Reflection
by Female Heero Yuy
Summary: Dr. Nambu is thinking about the past, and how different things are now.


Reflection

By Female Heero Yuy

_Disclaimer: If I owned Gatchaman this would be in the anime. _

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He sat at his desk with his hands on his lap. Thinking of the old days, and how many years had past since. Oh how he could remember the happy days. When things were easier. If only but a little. When going out on a whim wasn't impossible. When sitting down to even enjoy an ice cream cone was done just for the sake of enjoying it. Not as though it were the last time. He couldn't help but smile. Even as they came into his office. They were the only ones who could come into his office unexpectedly. No prior annoucement was needed when it came to them. By them he meant his four wards. His children. And their friend. Yes. He was sure many of his collegues would find it rather odd, that he thought this way. He was a man of fourty eight. And had no children of his own by blood. Now that he thought on it a little. He'd been somewhat cheated in the romance department. At the age of thirty four he'd found himself fathering the son of his dearest friend. And found that in itself changed many things. One became two, two became three, and finally three became four. Though he supposed realistically he only had three. Then again realistically most adults would not allow a sixteen year old girl to raise a ten year old boy. He briefly pondered how that would be settled in court. And the thought amused him.

He rather imagined himself saying to the judge. "But your honor, she's more than capable of raising a ten year old boy as her own sibling." Oh how he could already see the awkward looks and stares if that were to ever happen. Now that he thought of it. He never did put any thought into taking any of them in. He just sort of accepted it. It was odd. Most have difficulties with such a thing. But he himself was happy to take on the task. And never did regret it.

"What are you smiling about?" Joe's voice broke his thoughts.

"I was just simply remembering Joe." he replied even as he leaned slightly in his chair.

"Remembering what doctor?" Jun asked out of curiosity.

"Nothing special. Just the old days when things seemed more simple." he laughed slightly. "When we, Ken's father and I, lost Ken."

"I was lost?" Ken raised a confused brow.

"Yes. It was at the shrine festival we went to when you were three. We'd gone to the festival with a few friends of ours and your mother, and of course you. And at some point we lost you. It was horrible! We were in a complete panic for hours."

"Really?" Ken seemed to think on it for a moment. "I'm pretty sure I wasn't lost. I kind of remember sitting on someone shoulders watching as a parade went by."

Dr. Nambu laughed. "Indeed. I guess it's more correct to say that. You weren't actually lost. Your father and I just thought we lost you. You see your mother had asked us to watch you. But what we failed to realize was she'd asked us to watch you for a few minutes."

"Oh what happened?" Jun became interested.

"Well you see. Apparently after she told us she was going to watch the parade with Satomi and her husband Hiro. Hiro put Ken on his shoulders so he could see the parade easier. Ken's father and I had decided to get some drinks and snacks. And after we had done our purchases. It was then that we realized Ken was not with us."

Joe laughed. "Ahhhh miscommunication. Priceless."

"So we ended up running around in a complete panic because we thought we'd lost Ken. Only to find out later that he was on Hiro's shoulders the whole time enjoying the parade."

"I knew I wasn't lost. Because I seriously couldn't remember being lost. I just remembered having a balloon, cotton candy, and seeing many fireworks." he grinned. Obviously remembering bits and pieces of that particular day.

"Indeed. But how were we supposed to know? We thought we lost you and spent five hours looking for you. Luckily for us your mother never found out. That would have been a complete disaster."

"I bet." he smirked.

"Though that's not nearly as funny as his mom dressing him as a girl." Joe teased.

"In case you forgot. She dressed you up as a girl too." Ken shot back with a smug look on his face.

Jun's eyes seemed to light up, even though Joe seemed to appear ashamed for the moment. "You two were dressed as girls?!" she laughed hysterically.

"It's not uncommon." Dr. Nambu remarked. "It's a sort of japanese tradition. You dress the boy up as a girl, so he'll be strong when he's older."

"I think it's safe to say it worked." Ryu stated. Ken and Joe were pretty strong.

"Even so. Joe made one ugly girl." Ken laughed as he remembered it. "But it was even more funny when some other boys tried to pick on him. Man they were surprised when they got beat up."

"Yeah. And I got in trouble after." Joe grumbled.

"What did you expect? You broke one of the boys arms." Ken crossed his arms.

"Well, it was ten times more hilarious when those boys discovered you weren't a chick." Joe's eyes seemed to gleam.

"No, their pickup lines is what was hilarious." Ken smirked as he beat Joe to the punchline. "What was it that one boy said to me? You, me, and we'll be an asian sensation."

Joe started cracking up hysterically. Remembering that particular line as well as others. Ken had gotten hit on by many boys. And many of the lines were just down right ridiculous. But he supposed when a child was only nine, they couldn't come up with very good lines.

"Man, I missed out on all the good stuff." Jun pouted.

"Well you were ten when you came to the house Jun." Ken stated. "Though that was odd. For years it was just the guys, then sudden there was a girl in the house."

"Yeah." Joe nodded. "We just came home from school and was told we had a sister and to be nice to her."

"Though being nice was apparently on the bottom of your lists." Jun crossed her arms.

"What can we say? We didn't wanna play house." Joe snubbed.

"Or dress up." Ken added. "Plus with all that homework. Who'd have time to play." he sighed as he remembered his mountains of homework.

"What are you complaining about? You graduated from school when you were fourteen." Jun lightly smacked his arm. "Joe and I were still in school until I was fifteen and he, seventeen."

"Not my fault you both refused to study." he smirked.

"Over achiever!" she stuck her tongue out at him.

"What's an over achiever?" Jinpei looked puzzled.

"Someone who does things more than necessary." Joe retorted.

"Is that really such a bad thing?" Ryu pondered.

"Only in the sense that over achievers are NEVER satisfied until they've done one hundred percent and beyond." he added.

"But aniki isn't like that...sometimes." Jinpei tried to think. There were times when Ken wouldn't take anything less than the best. But they were rare and far in between.

"That's cause Ken's weird. He's an over achiever who's perfectly content letting some things slide. I guess we should be grateful he's not a perfectionist. Otherwise i'd have to beat him stupid." Joe crossed his arms.

"As if you could do that." Ken rolled his eyes.

"See! See! Stop being literal Ken!" Jun lightly wacked him on his arm a few times. Though it was obvious she was amused. As she did this with a smile on her face. "You're getting as bad as the doctor!"

"Doctor? Which doctor?" he teased. Which made her laugh some more.

"You know very well which doctor!"

"You mean the first doctor from Doctor Who?" he avoided her next swipe at him. "What about the second?"

"Shut up!" she tried to strangle him. "Your hurting my brain!"

"Oh well let me fix it with my sonic screw driver." he pretended to pull out one.

"Damn it Ken! Hold still so I can hit you!" she laughed.

"Why do I feel like we've been left behind in something we don't understand?" Ryu frowned.

"Probably because we have." Jinpei replied.

"And let's keep it that way. Ken and Jun can keep their Doctor Who fan selves between them." Joe retorted.

"Your just jealous cause we actually understand what's going on and you don't." Ken held Jun back at an arms length away to keep her from swatting at him.

"It's boring. Not enough action."

"You mean, not enough stuff gets blown up." Jun smirked.

"Exactly."

Dr. Nambu just laughed. Some of the arguements his older kids had were just ridiculous at times. But it did make him feel good to know that they could act like kids. He always did worry that they had grown up too fast. But maybe it was do to the differences in ages that kept them at a good balance of teenager and adult. Poor Jinpei was always trying his best to catch up to them. Like the very sterotypical younger sibling, who looked up to their older siblings. Though in his case Jinpei was actually permitted to do what they were allowed to do. Something most ten year olds didn't get to do. "Alright, alright. That's enough. No using fictional characters for arguements."

"Yes doctor." they chimed at the same time.

Then Jun moved while Ken had still been holding her away. Strangely he had been angled during this. So her sudden movement caused him to fall over. "Gaah!" he shouted when he hit the floor. "Ooooowww!" he laughed. "I landed on my birdrang!"

"Good!" Jun looked smug as she helped him up.

"Where's a camera when you need one. That was hilarious!" Ryu clutched his sides in laughter when he saw his commander hit the ground with a thud.

Jinpei snickered, "Aniki had a blond moment."

"I'll blond moment you if you keep that up!" Ken rubbed at his hip. "Atleast I didn't fall on the blades." he checked just to be sure.

"Yeah that would of sucked." Ryu nodded.

"Gatchaman in the emergency room due to being attacked by his own weapon." Joe grinned. "I'd pay to see that."

"Don't make me kick you Joe."

"This just made me remember when you were all in a car accident." Dr. Nambu spoke up.

"How so?" Jun looked puzzled.

"Well it's more so the aftermath. You three were bandaged up, and finally allowed to be home. And even while wounded you still managed to find a way to get at one another."

"Oh yeah...I'm still trying to figure out how Ken did half the stuff he did. Considering he had a broken leg." Joe took a seat.

"It's called talent." Ken joined him.

"When did they get into an accident?" Jinpei asked out of curiosity.

"It was when Joe and Ken were twelve, and Jun was ten. I think about a month after Jun came to live with us." Dr. Nambu thought on it for a moment. "Of course I wasn't happy about it. And was a complete wreak. Though anyone would be."

"But what happened?" Ryu's curiosity grew.

"Long story short. We were taken to the park to play. Some idiot decided it was a good idea to drive threw the park. We were nearly directly hit by the car. But Ken knocked us out of the way partially, thus taking most of the damage. In the end, Jun got a few scrapes. I had a broken arm, bruises and scratches. And Ken had a broken arm, a broken leg, and it was a miracle he got out of it alive."

"The man who caused the accident was drunk. Fortunately no one was killed that day." Dr. Nambu added. "There were many times I didn't think Ken would pull through."

"Nah I was fine for the most part. I just kept passing out cause of all the drugs they gave me." Ken waved it off. "Seriously. I was in pain. And it was like the doctors were determined to keep me passed out."

"Your right leg was broken all the way to your mid thigh, and your left arm was a gruesome mess! Of course they wanted to keep you passed out!" Jun put her hands to her hips.

"I'm not sure I understand how he broke his right leg, and left arm. Shouldn't it of all been on the same side of his body?" Jinpei looked puzzled.

"It would have, but Ken some strange manuver where his leg took the first hit, and he used his left arm to protect his face from getting hit by the fender of the car. Would of been more awesome if it wasn't for the fact that he nearly died." Joe replied. "Atleast we know the training was kinda working then. Though it was hell cause he got away with alot of the pranks he pulled."

"What can I say? I was a talented child." Ken smirked.

"Atleast my broken arm got the teachers to pity me some more." Joe smirked. "I got extra time to do my homework and assignments. Cause it was my right arm that was broken."

"Pft, I didn't need the extra time. I was already ahead in all my classes. I got to sleep." Ken reclined in his seat. "It was getting back into shape for training that sucked."

"You both sucked. I didn't get extra time for anything." Jun pouted.

"You only had some scratches and a few bruises!" Ken defended.

"The extra time had sentimental value!" she retorted.

"Oh here we go again. Six years later. And she's still complaining about it!" Joe rolled his eyes.

"It's true what they say. Women don't let anything go." Ken looked at him. Joe then nodded in agreement.

"Not a thing." Dr. Nambu smiled as he remembered when Ken's mother made sure if Kentaro and he did wrong. They never forgot it. Jun could be like Ken's mother in so many ways at times. Sadly she did not obtain her cooking skills as much as he'd put the girl in cooking classes. But he supposed it balanced out since the boys could cook.

"I smell mutiny here." Jun's eyes narrowed. Which meant she was getting very angry.

Joe, on seeing this, hoped to ease her anger by changing the subject. "Don't you love Ken's reaction to cough medicine spray?"

"You mean how he acts like he's just been hit with holy water like a vampire?" Jun suddenly grinned. His plan worked.

Jinpei snickered. "Aniki has a huge hate for it."

"It burned!" he defended. "And the sore throat didn't help!"

"Ken's like a whimp when it comes to certain things." Ryu teased.

"Yeah? What about you guys when it comes to shots." he shot back. Making the rest cringe. "Yeah, thought so. Shut up."

"Your not any better aniki." Jinpei looked at him.

"Alright now." Dr. Nambu decided it was best to prevent an arguement early on. "Don't make a fuss over medical needs."

"Yeah. Why do that, when we can laugh at Joe for being scared of Santa. And crying when Dr. Nambu made him sit on his lap." Ken sly remarked.

"You evil bastard." Joe's eyes narrowed and he pounced on Ken. Making him land on the floor.

"And..." he tried to defend himself as he laughed. "He was thirteen!"

"Atleast he got over his fear of the aunt jemima bottle." Jun giggled.

"JUN!" Joe looked at her in horror. "You swore you'd never tell!"

"He swore it would kill him in his sleep." she soon found herself fleeing from an angered condor. Everyone else was too busy laughing to aid her. Not that she needed it. She was faster than him. Thus keeping him from getting a good grip on her. Though during this he'd also forgotten about Ken, who was laughing in hysterics on the floor. It wasn't until she hid behind Dr. Nambu that he stopped in his pursuit.

"I hate you both." he grumbled.

"The great condor." Jinpei snickered. "Scared of a syrup bottle. I wish I was there for that."

"With a camera." Ryu added.

"Atleast i'm not scared of the boogey man!" he shouted in defiance. Glaring at Ryu and Jinpei, both who stopped snickering.

"I think being scared of the aunt jemima bottle was ten times funnier." Ken picked himself off the floor.

"Oh!" he pounced on the eagle and started tickling him. "And what about you Mr. I was scared of the attic til I was fifteen!" he laughed. "Huh! HUH!" he kepted up his assault. Leaving the eagle to squeal and squirm as he tried to get away. Both were laughing.

"Joe!" Ken screamed. But couldn't do much else as he continued to laugh. It didn't help that Jun had joined in, and aided the condor in his tickle attack. Jinpei and Ryu were too busy laughing to aid their commander.

Dr. Nambu just laughed, not moving an inch from his seat as he watched. Knowing this day of reflection, was one he would hold dear.

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_And it's done. =3 I was kinda bored and wanted to write something, and this was what came up. Though I kept putting it off a few times due to being busy. In the end I like how it turned out. xD You can probably guess what makes me laugh when I read it._

_Hope you all enjoyed it. Reviews and a comments appreciated._


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